Alternating-current motor.



PATENTED FEB. 21

R. LUNDELL.

ALTERNATING CURRENT MOTOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11. 1904 M M 8 2313 a ike cun .zgzbtgg was UNITED STATES Patented February 21, 1905.

ROBERT LUNDELL, OF NETV YORK, N. Y.

ALTERNATlNG-GURRENT MOTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,863, dated February 21, 1905.

Application filed January 11,1904. Serial No. 188,575.

To a, whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT LUNDELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, borough of Manhattan, county and State of New York, have made a new and useful Invention in Alternating-Current Motors, of which the following is a specification, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

My invention relates particularly to that class of alternating-current motors which are furnished with a commutator and which may be operated from a two-wire circuit; and it has for its objects, first, the construction of a motor which may be self-starting with or without load; second, a motor which may quickly be reversed from a distance without undue complication; third, a motor which will give a great starting torque and a high eificiency; fourth, a motor which will operate without injurious sparking at the commutator under various loads and speeds.

I accomplish the aforesaid objects with the aid of the improved apparatus and by the methods hereinafter described, and fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

It is a well-known fact that if a laminated field-magnet is used in connection with an ordinary series-wound motor the same may be made to run on a single-phase alternating-current circuit. It is also Well known that an armature having a commutator can be made to run in an alternating-current field-magnet if certain coils in the said armature are short circuited upon themselves, though wholly disconnected from the primary circuit. In the present invention I employ a combination of the principles which govern the operation of a series-wound motor and those which govern the rotation of a part1 y-short-circuited armature' which is caused to rotate by the sec ondary or the induced currents in the shortcircuited coils.

Referring now to the drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are both diagrammatic views of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is similar to Fig. 1, the only difference being that which results from re- Versing the direction of rotation of the rotary or movable part.

Referring to Fig. 1 in detail, L L represent the two wires or mains of an alternating-current supply. M represents the laminated field-magnet of a two-pole motor having poles P P and field-windings F F, as clearly shown in the drawings. A represents the armature-core of a rotating armature having a Gramme or ring winding, as clearly shown, the coils of which are in turn connected to a commutator C in the usual manner. B B represent contact blocks or brushes which are insulated from one another and which are wide enough to straddle or to connect a number of commutator bars and coils. D represents a rocker-arm or lever designed to move or regulate the position of the contact-blocks B B. E is a rod which connects the said rocker-arm D to a core or plunger P, which in turn is designed to be moved by the solenoid-coils C 0 The said coils C G are operated by a small switch 0, which may be located far from the apparatus. This switch is designed to short-circuit one or the other of the coils and to put both coils in circuit by opening the said switch. The coils U C" are for convenience shown connected to the alternating current mains L L, though it would be preferable to connect the same to a source of direct-current supply, such as a battery, for instance. R represents a suitable starting and regulating box for regulating the current potential supplied to the motor. w w W) to 10 represent wires for connecting together electrically the various parts of the apparatus in the manner shown in the drawings. \Vires w" and w", which lead to the contact-blocks B B, are supposed to be flexible in order not to interfere with the movement of the said blocks.

In order to fully explain the combined action of the primary and the induced currents in the armature'windings, the direction of the current at one particular moment has been indicated upon the drawings by arrows which are shown in full if they pertain to the primary circuit and which are shown dotted if 9 shown in full within the small circles on the armature-core, indicate the resultant or combined polarities due to both the primary and the induced currents.

Looking now upon Fig. 1 as a plain serieswound motor, it will be understood by any one familiar with the art that if the direction of the current at one particular moment is as indicated by the arrows (shown in full) the polarities of the field-magnet poles will be as indicated by letters S N on the drawings. It will also be understood by following the arrows (shown in full) on the armature-core that the polarities from the primary current Will be located opposite the center line of the brushes-that is, forty-five degrees from the line Y Y, as shown by letters S N (in full) on the armature-core. It follows from the location of these polarities that the rotation of the armature would be from right to left, (that is, counter-clockwise) S on the field-magnet attracting N on the armature-core and N on the field-magnet attracting S on the armaturecore. At the next instant, when the current has changed direction, all of the above-mentioned polarities would be reversed and the direction of rotation would be the same. Omitting now for the moment the action of the primary curi'entin the armature-windings, it will also be understood by any one familiar with the art that there will be secondary currents induced in the armature-coils which are shortcircuited by the wide contact-blocks or brushes B B by reason of the lines of force which are caused to flow through the armature from the field-magnet poles N to S. The direction of these induced currents will be such that they will oppose the flow of lines of force-that is, they will be in opposite direction to the currcnt which flows through the field-windings F and F. If traced on the drawings, they will be found to be in the direction shown by the dotted arrows when induced by a current in the field-windings, which flows as indicated in Fig. 1. The polarities on the armature-core from these secondary currents will be as indicated by the dotted letters S and N, and it follows that the direction of rotation will be from right to left, or same as before, as S on the field-magnet will repel dotted S on the armature-core and N on the field'magnct will repel dotted N on the armature-core. At the next moment, when the currents are reversed, the polarities will likewise be reversed and the direction of rotation remains as before. Examining now the resultant action of both the primary and the secondary currents upon the armature-core, it will be seen that the combined polarities will be located on line Y Y, as indicated by the letters S and N within the small circles. larities should be located in order to produce the best torque effects and the best efficiency. In fact, if the motor was to be operated as a This is exactly where the porow brushes would in this case be located at or near the line Y Y. Such a motor would, however, cause difficulties from sparking, due to the large secondary current in the armature-coil, which is directly short-circuited by the brush.

By my invention I propose to reduce the secondary or the induced current in any one coil to a normal amount by short-circuiting such a number of coils that the combined ampere-turns from the short-circuited portions of the armature will nearly equal the ampereturns on the other portions of the armature, which are due to the primary currents.

It will be seen on the drawings that the induced and the primary currents in the armature-windings are in the same direction at the leaving edges of the contact-blocks B and B that is, at line X X on Fig. 1. If these currents are nearly alike in amperes, it follows that there will be no sparking as the commutator-segments leave the brushes, because of the fact that there will be no reversal or change in the current in the armature-windings at these particular points.

The position of the contact-blocks B B is directly governed by the position of the plunger P, as clearly shown in the drawings and indirectly by the switch 0, which, as stated before, may be at a considerable distance from the apparatus. The core P may preferably be supplied with suitable stops for limiting the extreme positions, or similar stops may be caused to limit the movement of the rocker-arm D.

Fig. :2 shows the direction of the primary and the induced currents reversed in the armature-windings, owing to a change in the position of the contact-blocks B and B. The resultant or combined polarities will consequently be reversed, as shown by letters N and S within the small dotted circles, and the direction of rotation will be from left to right, or in the direction of the hands on a clock. It may be interesting to note that the brushes or contact-blocks B B have only been moved ninety degrees, whereas the resultant polarities of the armature have been shifted one hundred and eighty degrees. The same ratio will apply to a multipolar design.

I have illustrated a smooth core ringwound armature for the sole purpose of plainly indicating the direction of the current in the coils. This form of armature is now obsolete, and I would naturally employ a slotted drum-wound armature, as well as a multipolar design, in a working machine. I have also shown and described a motor having certain coils in its armature-windings in series with its field-windings, and I do not limit my invention to this particular arrangement, as it is but a simple modification to so connect the circuits that the above-mentioned coils of the armature would be connected in parallel plain series-wound motor the ordinary narl with the field-windings.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. An alternating-current motor having a stationary field-magnet and an armature of the ring or drum type, the coils of which are connected to a commutator; in combination with means for causing local or short-circuited currents to flow through certain armaturecoils and additional means for causing other currents from an outside source of alternatingcurrent supply to flow through the other armature-coils.

2. An alternating-current motor consisting of a field-magnet connected with a source of alternating-current supply and an armature having a winding the coils of which are connected to a commutator; in combination with means for causing two or more sections of adjacent coils of the said armature-winding to become traversed by currents from a source of supply while the remaining sections of the other adjacent armature-coils are subjected to the effects of local currents, which are induced in the said remaining sections of the aforesaid armature-winding.

3. In an alternating-current motor the combination of field-magnet coils connected with an alternating source of current-supply; a revolving armature of the ring or drum type provided with coils connected to a commutator and brushes which short-circuit certain groups of the adjacent armature-coils, the remaining groups of armature-coils being traversed by currents from the supply-circuit.

- ing armature-coils being included in the supply-circuit.

5. An alternating-current motor having the winding or coils of its armature connected to a commutator; in combination with means for causing local or short-circuited currents to flow through two or more sections of adjacent armature-coils, and additional means for causing other currents from a source of alternating-current supply to flow through the remaining sections of armature-coils.

6. An alternating-current motor having a field-magnet connected with a source of ourrent-supply and an armature with a commutator and brushes for short-circuiting two or more groups of armature-coils while the remaining armature coils are included in an alternating-current supply-circuit; in combination with means for changing the position of the brushes and thereby the direction of rotation.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT LUNDELL.

Witnesses:

C. J. KINTNER, M. F. KEATING. 

